


a thin line

by Seon



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambassador Frisk, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Houseplant Flowey, Narrator Chara, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, Other, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Sharing a Body, Soft Chara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7726327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seon/pseuds/Seon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Probably a light hearted au about a post pacifist Undertale route.</p><p>Probably.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Defamation

_“Thank you for coming at such a quick notice, but it was… rather important,” it’s been a few years since the monsters escaped from the Underground with your assistance. Things were… difficult, for the first few years, but the integration has, over all, been surprisingly smooth. Mostly thanks to you, I think, Frisk._

_Nevertheless, despite being a young kid, you are still constantly being called into school offices, police stations, or even government buildings. AMBASSADOR OF MONSTERKIND, was your official title, and with it came some responsibilities, apparently._

_I still wish they stopped calling you for every perceived cultural or diplomatic incidents between the two species though._

_‘It’s no problem,’ you sign towards your counterpart: an official ambassador of humanity to the kingdom of monsters. Well, ‘official’ is the word, but it’s quite obvious that they put some young-ish bureaucrat that nobody would miss (and unlikely to cause any serious incidents) into the post. You find yourself doing most of the work in forging relations between the two species anyways. ‘What is the issue? Is anybody hurt?’_

_“Ahh, no, no, that’s not the issue here,” the human ambassador says, chuckling nervously. He’s in his late 20s with neatly combed brown hair. He has a friendly pair of eyes and a nervous smile that you find quite endearing. “I’m afraid it’s… a bit worse then just somebody getting hurt.”_

_Well, that sounds bad. ‘What happened?’ you sign immediately, leaning forward._

_“Do you, uhh… remember the testimonial you wrote? Regarding your… experience in the underground Kingdom of the Monsters?”_

_‘Of course. It took me hours to write that up.’_

_The human ambassador pushes forward the report in question. “Please read it again. I pulled it up this morning to review the situation underground and… well… found something that disturbed me greatly.”_

_You frown. You don’t remember putting in anything disturbing. You made sure to censor the parts with the human souls and exactly what took to break the barrier, explaining it away as “listen it’s magic, don’t worry about it,” or something like that. ‘Alright,’ you sign with one hand as you peruse the notes. ‘There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with….’_

_‘OH MY GOD,” we yell out together silently._

________________________________________________________________________

Ice Cap looked wildly around the room at the laughing faces of children as he desperately tried to find anything to cover himself up. “HEEEY, ICE!” yelled out one of the Moldsmal. “NICE HAT!” it said, placing the stolen cap atop its quivering, jellylike form.

“GIVE IT BACK!” Ice Cap yelled out, but Moldsmal was already gone, hopping and quivering its way along with the other bullies towards the Ruins and leaving him alone and crying in the snow.

Then a hand reached down and helped him. “Here, let me help you,” Frisk said, helping Ice Cap back to his feet. Ice Cap stifled his sniffling as he looked into the face of the most beautiful human he has ever seen. Their eyes were deep brown orbs, wavy brown hair stilling Ice Cap’s frigid heart, and perfect olive skin peeking out from beneath the immaculate purple striped sweater. Ice Cap could see Moldsmal and his gang’s jealous eyes all the way from the ruin doors.

“Beautiful monsters shouldn’t have to cry,” Frisk said, picking up Ice Cap in their arms.

“I’m not beautiful,” Ice Cap mumbled. “I just pretend that I’m cool, but I’m not.”

“But you are, and I thought so for a long time,” Frisk responded. “You don’t need the hat to be cool. You already are!” Frisk smiled warmly like a sun that melts away the frost. They continued carrying Ice Cap towards the town of Snowedin.

“This is a bad idea!” Ice Cap mumbled. “What if the Canine Unit sees?”

“Fuck the Canine Unit,” Frisk responded. “Love is stronger then any opposition.”

Ice Cap smiled at this remark, happy at last.

________________________________________________________________________

“DIE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!” Frisk screamed as they blazed away with a Thompson submachine gun against the coming horde of amalgamates, exploding them into gore and constantly regenerating flesh.

“UNDYNE!!! FRISK!!!” cried out Alphys wimpily as Endogeny nipped at her tail. “HELP!”

“ALPHYS!” Undyne yelled helplessly, dropping her harpoon gun. “Wait, Undyne, no!” Frisk cried out, but Undyne is already gone, abandoning her position in the fortified bunker and running off to stop Endogeny from totally absorbing the hapless Royal Scientist. Frisk swears and picks up an M240 light machine gun. “Come on then,” they cry out. “Let’s da-

________________________________________________________________________

THE ABSOLUTE GOD OF HYPERDEATH loomed tall and threatening over Frisk, but they were not afraid, for they themself was an angel of the prophecies.

The angel danced as the God of Hyperdeath rained down the stars and lightning from the heavens, daftly dodging the celestial flames of the old god. “Why do you resist so much?” the God of Hyperdeath cried, showering the entire field of battle with a beam as the mountain shook from the combat of these two celestial beings.

Frisk took to the air with their wings, the heart shaped locket, the symbol of their power, glowing bright red with magic. “Because I’m not fighting for myself, Asriel!” they cried out. “I’m fighting for my friends! My family! I won’t let you destroy them all, Asriel! I fight for good, and those who fight for good shall never know defea-

________________________________________________________________________

“Oh Sans,” Frisk breathed out as they drank from the bottle of finest Chianti from MTT resort restaurant. “What am I going to do without you?”

Sans, their date for the evening, gave them a knowing wink somehow despite being a skeleton. “You wouldn’t want to know,” Sans said. “I’ve been watching you from the start, darling,”

“How can I possibly reward you?”

Sans leaned on the table. “Well, for start-

________________________________________________________________________

“…Fire the superlasers,” Asgore commanded as he-

________________________________________________________________________

“OH GOD YES,” Frisk screamed with pleasure. Chara’s massive, thr-

________________________________________________________________________

_“I’m afraid, ah, it gets steadily worse from that point on,” the human ambassador said with what I assume is pity in his voice. I’m only assuming because you’ve gone completely red in the face and is in the process of attempting to absorb the document into your body through osmosis with your face._

_I myself am completely furious. This is defamation. I don’t even have a-_

_‘…how did this happen,” you sign, still unable to look at the human ambassador in the face. “We are still investigating that,” the human ambassador replies. “But the cyberattack was very thorough. I’m afraid this isn’t the only document that was affected.”_

_‘Explain.’ you sign immediately._

_“As far as we can tell, every bit of your personal records, write ups, and even school report cards have been vandalized,” the human ambassador says, pushing forward another document that appears to be your birth certificate. You groan upon reading it too._

_‘This is ridiculous,’ you sign to the ambassador. ‘How can anyone believe that I have the blood of the Caesars or something running in my veins? I’m not some kind of angel or mage either, I’m just an ordinary kid! I’ve also never even kissed anyone or even touched a gun, let alone fired one before!’_

_“We know, we are sorry,” the human ambassador says. You sigh. 'Can the original records be recovered?'_

_“Yes,” the human ambassador says. “But it will take time. But I’m afraid that the bad news doesn’t end there.”_

_‘Oh god, no, what now?’_

_“I’m afraid the attackers dumped the entire content of our database to the public Internet after they vandalized it.”_

________________________________________________________________________

Frisk screamed and screamed and screamed as they were held upside down by a demonic flower laughing at their suff-

________________________________________________________________________

_“Have you… err… have you calmed down now?” the human ambassador says worriedly, offering you a cup of tea that he went to boil after you started having a mental breakdown._

_‘I’ll be fine,’ you let out a sniffle as you sign. The ambassador seems nervous about something. “Ahh... I actually just received another bit of news,” he says._

_‘Can the day get any worse?’ you sign towards the ambassador. “Ah, no, it’s a bit of a good news, actually,” the human ambassador says. “We managed to trace down the attack to a single location.”_

_‘Where?’ you demand. ‘Was it one of those anti-monster groups? Linda? It couldn’t have been the…”_

_“None of those, I’m afraid,” the human ambassador says. “We traced the attack to your computer at your home.”_

__________________________________________________

_“Oh my, you are home early, what’s goin- Ack!” you shove Toriel aside in your hurry to get to your room._

_“boy they seem really pissed about something,” you hear Sans remark from the living room._

_You kick open the doors to your room to find your computer open and a flower with a silly little smile in a pot in front of it. “Oh Frisk!” he says, turning around to greet you with a fake smile. “What’s up? You are… heh… early…” his smile quickly fades into a nervous chuckle and bead of sweat begin to form on his fat fucking face as you silently drill holes into it with your eyes._

_“Golly, you seem really angry about something,” Flowey says nervously. “Why don’t we all just grab some tea and…”_

_‘Yeah,’ you sign as you silently close the door behind you with your leg. ‘I’m thinking golden flower tea.’_

_The door locks behind you with a click._


	2. foolishness

“We have to take out the glitter,” said the human employee in the staff meeting. Mettaton sighed and massaged his metallic head, which, unfortunately, did nothing to help his headache. 

“Dearest, what’s the name of our burger?” he asked the human employee. The name was… Bob or something? “Glamburgers,” he responded.

“Right,” Mettaton said. “The whole point behind the Glamburgers is that it’s as glamorous as possible, and that means that the glitter stays.”

“There have been too many complaints!” the human exclaimed. “Food advisory groups and health inspectors are breathing down our neck! They are claiming that glitters are inedible!”

“Nonsense,” Mettaton said, shrugging his shoulders and stretching his legs out on the table. “Monsters have been eating glamburgers for years now with no ill effects. It’s magical glitter and magical food anyways. It’s completely edible. Market it as being part of the experience!”

“We were already forced to remove the sequins and the glue from the recipe.”

“They did what?!” Mettatton hissed, springing to his feet. The human members of the staff meeting winced while the monster members looked…

Bored, actually.

“Darlings, who forced our hand?” Mettaton demanded. The human representative handed him a letter. “The FDA wanted us to stop the sale until they could verify that ‘magical glue and magical sequins’ are edible and safe for human consumption in an independent study. I’m afraid that the glitter would be the logical extension afterwards.”

“Whoever wrote this letter is a fool,” Mettaton said, throwing the letter behind him. “He must have seen our extensive study on the restorative effects of glamburger on human body.”

“They are more concerned about the long term effects, sir.”

“How long will it take before they are satisfied with the results of this… independent study?”

“A year if we are lucky?”

Mettaton scoffed. “Get our legal team ready and get ready to fight our case.”

“I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea-“

“Just do it,” Mettaton said. The headache was raging across his head now. His only consoling thought was that at least Papyrus didn’t have to deal with this crap. 

……………………………….

“I’m sorry sir, but you can’t add a deployable swinging axe to the bridge trap. It’s not safe.”

“BUT IT’S AN AUTHENTIC PART OF BEING HUMAN IN THE UNDERGROUND!” Papyrus declared, waving his hand wildly at the reconstructed wooden bridge hanging over a precipice. “WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT OF RECONSTRUCTING OUR LIFE IN A MUSEUM FORMAT IF WE WERE DISALLOWED TO CONSTRUCT AUTHENTIC MONSTER PUZZLES?”

“The police are breathing down our neck here, sir. They want to know where we got the cannons from,” the human engineer in charge of developing the Snowdin Park, Genuine Funderground Experience, (subsidiary of MTT Corporation) said, sweating bullets in front of the tall and loud skeleton. 

“THAT’S WEIRD,” Papyrus said, giving the engineer a quizzical look. “DID HUMANS FORGET HOW TO MAKE CANNONS? DO YOU THINK WE NEED TO HAVE AN EXHIBITION ABOUT HOW CANNONS WORK AND HOW TO MAKE THEM? THAT COULD BE AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND ENCOURAGE OTHER PUZZLE LOVERS!”

The engineer decided to quickly change the topic before the skeleton had another idea. “We already had to remove the flamethrowers. The technicians were worried that it could burn down the bridge and the exhibits.” 

“BUT THE BRIDGE IS COMPLETELY FIREPROOF!” Papyrus complained. “Haven’t you seen Grillby enchant it himself?” 

“We are still getting used to the whole magic business, unfortunately,” the engineer offered Papyrus a thin smile. “None of the workers really get it. A lot of them think that we should just try to build it using tried and known, human, methods of construction and engineering. Either that, or installing more handrails.”

Papyrus sputtered. “NOBODY EVEN ACTIVATED THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR IN THE UNDERGROUND!” he said. “IT WAS MOSTLY THERE TO LOOK AMAZING! AT THIS RATE, ONLY THING WE WILL BE LEFT WITH IS THAT ANNOYING DOG HANGING ON THE ROPES!”

“About that, boss, PETA called. They say it’s animal abuse.” 

“NYOO HOO HOO!” Papyrus cried out as he buried his head into his gloves. His only consoling thought, at this moment, was that at least Sans didn’t have to deal with humanity’s foolishness.

 

..........................................................

Sans leaned over the table. “Listen, Linda, if you misgender Toriel’s kid one more time—“

..........................................................

 

You sigh as you water Flowey. It took a lot of cajoling to make Flowey admit that he had hacked into the database at the monster-human embassy, and even more hand wringing to make him admit the exact time and date at which he had done so. That was, luckily, after our most recent SAVE, so it only took a simple LOAD to erase the incident out of history. 

Flowey grumbled for a few days about it not being fair that you still had that ability, but surprisingly didn’t raise any physical tantrums about his ‘genius prank’ being made moot. He’s staring at us with a curious and mocking expression as he gets watered now. “Soooo,” Flowey asks. “Monsters and humans are actually getting along pretty well now, huh?” 

‘Yep,’ Frisk signs as they put down the watering can. ‘I told you that peace is possible.’

“Yeah, heheheh, I should’ve never doubted you,” Flowey says. This is strange. He’s never this friendly unless he has some kind of scheme, or some way of mocking us. Be on guard. “Peace between monsters and humans at last!” he cackles. “All thanks to an eight year old ambassador!” 

‘It’s really not a big deal,’ you sign to the flower. ‘I think everyone wanted peace in the end. I just helped remind them that.’

“Oh yes, you did a marvelous job at it!” Flowey laughs, swaying side to side. “It’s like you knew exactly what to say at exactly the right time! It’s like you knew exactly the right place to be to stop a diplomatic incident before it even happened! How… lucky of you to be everywhere you are needed by chance!”

You frown. I shoot the damnable flower a glare from inside your skull. ‘What are you implying?’ you sign.

“You know very well what I am implying,” Flowey gives you a demonic grin. “How. Many. Times?”

You don’t answer. Flowey cackles. “Thought so,” he said. “My, you are just like me after all!” 

You flip him off as you storm out of the room.


	3. Cooking Genius

There is only one question in our shared mind as we chew on the carrots. “Undyne?” I ask her through your voice. “Mm hmm?” she says, used to my presence by now. Alphys is sitting next to you, chewing on the carrots with a contemplative expression on her face. There is a plate full of carrots in front of us on the table. 

“Why do these carrots taste like ham?”

“I’m glad you asked that question,” Undyne says, nodding. “You see, I was making a sandwich.” 

…

You don’t know what to say. Alphys doesn’t seem to know how to respond either. Hell, I don’t even know how to react. Undyne and Papyrus’s lack of talent with cooking is legendary, even known among some humans now, but this? 

How can somebody go from making sandwiches to making ham-flavored carrots?

“And you know how I like my sandwich,” Undyne continued. “Really big with all the ingredients from the fridge. However, I discovered to my horror, that a particularly annoying dog had gotten into the fridge overnight.”

‘Oh no!’ you sign towards her. Alphys solemnly nods in understanding. “An entire block of cheese, absorbed into the dog, despite the fact that it was MY cheese. Understandably I was angry.”

“Cheesed, even,” I snark. Alphys chortles. Undyne ignores me completely as she continues the story “But all was not lost, because I found a packet of shredded cheese in the fridge and an intact leg of ham—because I like to buy that stuff entire leg at a time because it’s super cheap at the store!”

‘Yes, yes,’ you sign, impatient. ‘But if you had the ham, then why did you need to make ham-flavored carrots?’

“I’m not done with the story yet! You see, I put the shredded cheese and the leg of ham side by side on the table. I was just getting ready to cut a slice of ham to use on the sandwich when I realized that there was something terribly wrong! You see, we put sliced cheese on sliced ham, so shouldn’t I use shredded ham on shredded cheese?” 

‘That… makes sense, I guess?’ you sign towards her helpfully. She nods. “I’m glad you agree, Frisk,” she says. “Anyways, I’m not allowed to summon spears in the kitchen anymore, so I decide to use the next best thing.”

“…The blender?” I offer helpfully. “What? No,” she says. “I used the cheese grater.”

We all stare at the mad fish woman. “I cleaned it afterwards!” she exclaims. “But the ham is really fibrous! It turns out that cheese grater doesn’t work at all on ham! I mean, it does, but it really doesn’t! So the toasting of the bread is done, so I put the cheese and the scraps of ham between the lettuce and the tomato and it actually tasted pretty decent.”

She finishes the story.

There is silence.

“Undyne?” Alphys asks.

“What?”

“The ham carrots.”

“Oh, right. Anyways, I’m eating the sandwich and thinking to myself, man, it would be great if you could grate ham like you can grate cheese. So, boom, ham flavored vegetables. Namely, this carrot,” she points towards the plate of ham carrots.

“I mean I don’t have a lot to do nowadays since the royal guard is mostly a figurehead, so I might as well spend some time doing some magical research, right?”

“…”

‘…’

“…”

“Why… why the carrots?” Alphys asks.

“Asgore has a garden full of them in his backyard, so I took them from there,” she says. “It was mostly because it was handy.”

…………………………………………………………….

“No, officer,” Asgore said to the policeman taking statement from the large Boss Monster. “I don’t know who could’ve done this. This is a safe neighborhood, or at least, I thought it was a safe neighborhood. My home hasn’t been vandalized in years now.”

“The damage seems pretty light in comparison though,” the officer declared. “They only vandalized your garden.”

“Yes, that is the curious part of this entire incident,” King Asgore said quietly. “They took the carrots, and only my carrots. Do you think they were trying to send some kind of message?” 

Officer frowned. “Honestly, I think it’s just some madman who really likes carrots, sir.” 

………………………………………………………………….

‘Does Asgore know about your efforts to mess with the genome of his gardening products?’ you hurriedly sign. 

“I haven’t gotten around to informing him yet. He seemed pretty busy when I visited.” 

“You probably should,” I say. “He’s pretty serious about his gardening.” 

“Yeah, I suppose I should,” Undyne says. “So, how do you like the ham carrots?”

‘It’s better than Linda’s lemon squares,’ you sign. Admittedly not a high standard.

You bite into another carrot that tastes of ham despite all the texture telling you that it is a carrot. 

………………………………………………………………………

Flowey sits alone in the kitchen, photosynthesizing in the sun. 

“the kid seems to be avoiding you nowadays,” Sans ask. Flowey turns around slightly to notice that the short and stocky skeleton has appeared out of nowhere and is now sitting in the kitchen counter chair. “that won’t be because of what you did to them now, would it?” he asks.

Flowey gives him a fake smile. “Oh, they aren’t shunning me,” Flowey says. “They can’t get enough of me! I’m the one shunning them. They are annoying.” 

Sans sighs. “you know, i was against you coming to the surface in the first place,”

“You should’ve tried harder to convince them,” Flowey snaps. 

“well, i did try,” Sans responds. “but unfortunately they were a bit… determined to bring you to the surface with them along with everyone.”

Flowey is silent for a while. “This won’t last, you know,” he says. “They’ll get bored one day, or something will happen that they just can’t accept, and then they’ll erase all of our memories and we’ll have to do this song and dance all over. And there’s absolutely nothing we can do to stop them.” 

Sans looks away. “you did the same thing,” he says.

“And that’s supposed to make us feel better?”

Another silence.

“Do you think Frisk is looking for something?” Flowey asks. “Do you think they’ll stop, if they just have what they want?” 

“i dunnow,” Sans replies. “what goes through a time traveller’s mind is a mystery even to me. but if they are looking for something, i hope they find it soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is but a thin line between determination and obsession.


	4. Befriending

“I’m afraid I will be busy that day.”

“Unfortunately, space has never interested me. Stars, in fact, are quite scary if you think about them, are they not? Always watching us. Who knows what they may be plotting.” 

“I don’t think I will be welcome in a meeting among your friends, Mx. Dreemurr.”

Why is making friend with this guy so frustratingly hard? 

I am, Frisk, f course, talking about that damned human ambassador. You know most of the politicians you meet with by name now. Most of them can’t have enough photographs taken with the young teenager savior of a whole secret species of magical creatures. Sole exception is your supposed counterpart, the ambassador of human kind to monsters. 

He defers most of the negotiation to you. He never joins when you have a private gathering with monster friends, despite the fact that his entire job description is to forge lasting relationship with monsters. No matter what the situation is, he always seems to have some kind of excuse. However, that will be fine, because today is the day you finally make a friend with a human. 

I don’t really see the point—the guy does his job of giving you the bad news whenever some kind of incident happens and organizing meetings with the relevant parties good enough. You tell me that he can do a much better job. Besides, you are eventually going to college, and it’ll be better for everyone if at least the human ambassador grows the empathize and appreciate monster company instead of dealing with everything in that same old business like and calculated demeanor. 

First step, of course, is to make him your personal friend rather than an official partner in human-monster affair. First, however, you must call and text everyone.

It’s a ritual you adopted after too many… incidents before. You are not a fan of spending the last 6-8 years as an eight year old child again. Let us not think about those times. It’s only after everyone responds that you finally create a SAVE. Our powers have been growing over time. Now, save points appear on command. Who knows? Maybe if enough control and growth, we will have multiple SAVES like Flowey did when he had the six human souls. 

Armed with a purse bag and a sharp and well-fitting business suit (I tell you that I approve strongly as I watch you dress yourself, and you seriously consider slapping yourself for a moment), you set off on your new quest to make a new friend.

“I’m afraid I will be busy that day,” he says when you simply ask him for coffee together later after work while looking your best. A flat out rejection! You are heartbroken, but of course, that will be okay, because you are used to getting your heart broken by now (you shoot daggers at something with your eyes, but I laugh). As Undyne says, as long as you persevere with enough determination, you can accomplish anything! Including being a friend with a boring bureaucrat whose sole redeeming quality is that he calls you by your appropriate gender instead of being confused like everyone else. 

You have no choice now.

You have to. 

Seduce him.

………………………………………………………………………..

When the human ambassador slips on a rather strategically placed banana peel on the stone floor of the embassy, you are, of course, completely by chance in exactly the right place to save him by sweeping him off his feet in a dashing manner.

Unfortunately you completely miscalculated your own size and the ambassador’s weight, and all you really accomplish is fall to the floor with him on top. He looks more… confused by the situation than seduced, if you ask me. You immediately push him off and run away, red in the face and embarrassed. You not only hear my laughter, but also the human ambassador’s snickering as you run out of the hallway out of sight, which makes you even more miserable. 

……………………………………………………………………………..

Obviously since the last impulsive attempt didn’t really work out, you come to office a little bit more prepared this time. In your purse bag are two tickets to the local Air and Space museum, given to you by Sans who works there as a security guard now (do you still remember when we visited the museum for the first time with the monsters, and how Sans almost burst into tears when he realized, upon seeing the space shuttle, just how large all of our world became? Of course you remember. That museum is still the first place you take him when you are sure that everything is safe in this iteration). 

‘Hey, Robert,’ you sign at him while giving your best and brightest smile. He looks up for a moment from the laptop he’s been typing with, gives you a slightly annoyed look, and says, “What is it, Mx. Dreemurr?” That was a bit rude. 

You frown. ‘Is something wrong?’

“No,” ambassador Robert replies. “You only make that face when you want to ask me for something.”

‘…I was unaware that I was so obvious.’

Robert chuckles at that. “It’s not that difficult to learn, considering your, ah, normal expression.”

The smile on your face twitches a little at that.

“But I suppose we are getting a bit off topic,” Robert says. “What do you need, Mx. Dreemurr?” 

‘Well, I got two tickets to an air and space museum nearby,’ you sign, pulling out the tickets from the purse and showing it to him. ‘I was wondering if we could go together when you are free? I know you have an opening on your schedule at the weekend.’

Robert smiles. “I’m sorry, Mx. Dreemurr,” he says. “Unfortunately, space has never interested me. Stars, in fact, are quite scary if you think about them, are they not? Always watching us. Who knows what they may be plotting.”

What a strange thing to say. You are not sure if he’s joking or not, but you think you have a vulnerability in his argument that you can exploit here. “Ahh, but this is the Air and Space Museum, not a Museum of Astronomy or something like that,” you say. “In the museum of Air and Space, we exhibit objects we use to know more about the stars!”

“And knowing more about the stars, I suppose you are arguing, makes us better prepared for any untoward ambitions they hold towards our fair earth, no?” the ambassador says, musing. You know, I honestly can’t tell if this guy’s serious or not. “Hmm… very well,” he says. “I suppose I may make an exception from my work for this.” 

You smile inwardly. ‘It’s a date,’ you sign towards him. The ambassador raises an eyebrow and attempts to react, but you are already gone, walking away with a whistle. 

………………………………………………………………………………………..

R: It’s rather rude to demand my attention and then go silent, Robert. 

L: My apologies, Doctor, but I believe that I have been inadvertently invited to a date. 

R: By Mx. Dreemurr? I warned you that they are a feisty case.

L: Yes, indeed. It’s just to the Air and Space Museum, so I doubt it is anything serious, a minor annoyance at best. In any case, Doctor, something rather troublesome has come up that requires your immediate attention. 

R: What is it?

L: It’s Mx. Dreemurr’s birth mother. She has contacted us recently with reliable DNA analysis that proves their relation. She’s demanding the embassy to arrange a meeting. 

L: How should I proceed?

………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

How old are you? I ask as you walk away from the embassy. You frown, but it’s a serious question. All these resets over the many years—I can no longer tell how old I am. I’m wondering if you have taken better track. 

…

Your silence is all the answer I need. 

We’ve been doing this for so long. Don’t you think it is about time to stop? 

…

Of course, until we save him too. It’s always for him. No, I agree. It’s my fault that he’s… like that. It’s as Sans said once, isn’t it? That if we have special powers, isn’t it our responsibility to do the right thing?

When did he say that again?

I can’t remember anymore Frisk, it’s been so long. You stretch out your hand towards the sun to block its glare. We are a hundred years old, at the minimum, by our last accounting. But the world is wide, and still filled with new adventures and new sights. It’s good that some things seem truly random. We are still grateful for Undyne and Papyrus. They never do the same experiments and adventures twice, at least on the surface, no matter what reset we do. 

You are grateful for every bits of randomness in this universe—it keeps you focused and reminds us that we are still alive, and not mere puppets dancing on a string.

Hey Frisk.

Do you remember your parents? Why you are still afraid of hospitals and military bases? 

….

Heh.

I can’t remember why I hate humanity either, Frisk. I just do.

Maybe we just never existed before we fell.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

R: We have already discussed this contingency before, Robert. You know exactly what to do. Go ahead with our original plan. 

L: Understood, Paul. I’ll arrange a meeting immediately.

R: Please stop calling me that.

L: Only if you stop calling me Robert, Paul. 

R: Just do your bloody job. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“alright folks, closing time, everyone please leave the museum in an orderly manner!” a short skeleton in a uniform told the museum goers, many of whom stopped momentarily to do a double-take at the unusual security guard.

“what, never seen a talking skeleton before? closest exits are to the right, people!” 

The people eventually shrugged and decided that they saw weirder things before now that monsters were out of the underground, and did as they were told. Today was a decent day. He got to patrol the area with old Russian rockets, and nobody even bothered him or call him any names or cause any trouble. He heard a footstep going in the opposite direction of the crowd and frowned. 

“i said the museum’s closed, pal, you should—“

“Not even an exception for a friend?” the brat said using Frisk’s voice. Brat? Yeah, brat was the best way to describe them. Normal children didn’t form murder-suicide pacts at a tender young age of ten. “Oh, your majesty,” Sans said, still smiling widely. “How’s Frisk?”

‘I’m here, don’t worry,” Frisk’s hand signed. “They are okay,” Chara said simultaneously. “Asgore’s sake, Sans, it’s been years. You must know I’m safe by now.” 

“old habits die hard,” Sans says. “besides i’m too lazy to change my habits.”

“Yeah well, fuck you too,” Chara said. A hand immediately covers their mouth. Sans sighed. He’s never really going to get used to this split personality thing the kid has going on now. 

“so why are you here?”

“We managed to convince the human ambassador to come to this museum with us,” Chara says after prying Frisk’s hand away from their mouth. 

‘We were wondering if you could give us a tour,’ Frisk signs. 

“the human ambassador eh?” Sans barely knew the fellow. Most of the media was focused on Frisk, after all, and he had only seen bare glimpse of the fellow called the human ambassador to monsterkind. Robert something. “sure, why not?” Sans said.

‘Yaay!’ Frisk gestured by grabbing onto Sans’ hands and hopping a few times. “I expect the puns to be ready Sans, we are serious about trying to befriend this fellow,” Chara said. 

“of course,” Sans said, smiling. “Robert won’t even know what hit’em.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

“We are sorry, Miss…” Ambassador Robert said, feigning looking busy and sifting through a few documents. There was a nervous woman in olive skin sitting across the desk from him. A friendly smile, and she seems to have calm down for a moment. 

“Estradas.” 

“We are sorry, Miss Estradas, but I’m afraid Mx. Dreemurr has just left the building. Busy with schoolwork, I suppose.” 

“Yes,” she said. “I can’t believe that they grew up so much… it’s been 10 years…” 

“Yes, and I take it you are eager to meet them?” Miss Estradas nodded quickly. “We can arrange that fairly simply. Say, Miss Estradas, how do you feel about space?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Considering that I'm not fooling anyone with the lie that this is light and fluffy anymore, maybe I should change the description?


	5. Chapter 5

_An Internal Memo:_

_Paul, I must once again protest my appointment to the current position as the ambassador to monsterkind. You must agree, based on our shared personal history, that I am unable to maintain this saccharine, friendly façade infinitely. I’m requesting an immediate extraction and replacement with a much more suitable candidate._

_-L_

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I’m sorry?” Miss Estradas said, surprised at the non sequitar. Robert feigned sifting through more document. “I have actually been invited to a date with Mx. Dreemurr this coming Saturday at the Air and Space Museum. I’ve never personally been there, so I was wondering if you had.”

Miss Estradas stared blankly at Robert. “…How old are you, Mister…”

“Loveless,” Robert says, smiling. “I know, a silly last name. My grandparents were Irish, I expect, although I imagine it’s usually spelled ‘Lovelace.’ Before we drown in endless sequence of non-sequitars and distractions, I must stress that Mx. Dreemurr is notorious for inviting people to non-serious, joking, dates. There is absolutely no romantic connotation in the gesture.”

“Oh!” Miss Estradas said, giggling. “That’s… That’s pretty funny, actually. I wonder where they got it from?”

“Who knows? From the report, it appears that they had the habit from before they fell into the Underground. One does not suddenly become a legendary charisma from falling down a hole, after all. Ah, I found the file that you have submitted. Yes, little Mx. Frisk Estradas, reported missing at 5 years old, more than a decade ago. Search called off and victim presumed dead after six months. Case forgotten, until Frisk reemerged from the Underground, nearly 4 years later, as Mx. Frisk Dreemurr. If I may ask a question, Miss Estradas, why did you take so long to contact us? It is not as if the reemergence of the monsters and Mx. Dreemurr was a government secret.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

_An Internal Memo_

_Dear Robert Loveless,_

_As a personal friend, you understand that I sympathize completely with your plight with the monsters. I have lost a child to the Mountain too, and little Jillian’s memories still haunt me to this day._

_Do you remember the day when we shared a bottle of whiskey in that forgettable bar in Michigan? When we vowed that we will have them back, no matter what it took?_

_That is why you must understand when I deny your request for reassignment, Robert. Of everyone working for the Great Cause, you understand my personal motivations the most. You understand why we are doing this the most. If you cannot do this for me, do this for little Jack._

_Request denied._

_-Doctor Paul Roosevelt._

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“How could I?” Miss Estradas says after a short pause. “I had grieved for them already, and had moved on. I didn’t know how to react when I saw them on the news, grown up so much, and with a completely different last name. Did they… Did they run from me? Were they not satisfied with their life? If they had been underground all this time, why didn’t they look for me once they got out?”

“I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know if this Frisk was the same as mine. So I decided to hire a private investigator to investigate them. Who they were, and where they came from before they fell. I knew that they fell when they were 8-9 years old, so that left a 3-4 year gap between my kid’s disappearance and their fall. I wanted to know if those missing years could explain their behavior.”

“What did the investigation find?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Years of digging, searching, and begging for explanations and information from various agencies and organizations around the world, and nobody had anything. It was as if… as if they just appeared one day, fully formed, just to fall down the mountain. But we did find a genetic sample from Mx. Dreemurr. 99% match with my own missing child.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Do you remember the human souls, Frisk?

The six human souls that Flowey absorbed to become that TV monster thing, and then back to….

Heh.

I know, but I can’t stop thinking about them.

You are the only one I traveled with throughout the Underground. Six children, all presumably with the power of LOAD and RESET, but ultimately unable to get past Asgore.

I never traveled with them, like I do with you. I was never there to help them with my extra Determination, or give them advice and encouragements to help them maintain their own.

I sometimes wonder if the Underground would be different if any of them had lived.

But… it was necessary, wasn’t it?

We needed their souls to break the barrier. It was the only way, wasn’t it?

…

Do we even know what they were named?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

_“We will, of course,” Robert Loveless says. “Have to verify the DNA evidence on our own. We won’t want to needlessly trouble Mx. Dreemurr.”_

_“That’s agreeable. I’m quite scared of what they’ll say to me too.”_

_Robert chuckles at that. “I empathize, Miss Estradas. I lost a child too in the past. A missing persons case, like yours.”_

_“Oh, I’m so sorry. You look so young too. It must have bee-“_

_“I’m much older than I appear, I’m afraid,” Loveless laughs. “Wonders of genetic therapy and plastic surgeries, as well as physical therapies, I’m told. Modern technology and techniques have advanced quite well.”_

_“Ah, that does explain somewhat. Your child, though. Wh-“_

_“To the Mountain, of course. It has always been the damned Mountain,” Loveless continues. The boy was a fool. Chased after a childhood friend when he discovered that she, too, had disappeared into the Mountain. Went there armed with nothing but some tough gloves and a bandanna to save his friend, with presumably a big smile on his face.”_

_“Umm…”_

_“As far as we know, six children, other than Mx. Dreemurr, had disappeared in the Mountain since we began watching it in the late 2030s, one of them being my foolish son. Can you imagine why little Frisk was the only one who survived? Can you think of any reason why there were no mentions of the missing human children in the released reports of Mx. Dreemurr’s journeys throughout the Underground?”_

_“This is the first time I hear about this, and I’m not sure what you are getting at here, Ambassador.”_

_“What I’m getting at is… Do you ever get a strong sense of déjà vu, Miss Estradas?”_

_………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………._

“You know how humans have determination, Frisk?” Flowey asks from the windowsill. You frown at him.

‘Of course, that’s how I am able to reset and load.’

“And I used to have that power, because I had determination too,” Flowey continues, deep in thought. “But I don’t get it. Why you? Why do you have so much determination flowing through your veins? Enough to trump any other human being on the planet? What’s so special about you?”

“Actually, let’s think about it in different way,” Flowey continues. “I remember the resets, because I have Determination. Humans also have determination. Shouldn’t a lot of humans remember the resets?”

The thought is something to consider. Perhaps, Frisk, we are special? Perhaps it is the two of us together, combined with exposure to monster magic that made us what we are today? Perhaps it’s the Mountain, and how weird it apparently is? ‘I don’t know, Flowey,’ you say finally. “I think even among humans I’m an anomaly. Maybe none of them have enough determination anymore to even remember.”

“Heh, you can say that right.”

Even as you smile politely at the mean comment, you can’t help but feel glad that not even Flowey, with his incredible store of DT, can remember the resets when you rewind back all the way to the Fall.

_………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………._

_“I…. don’t understand how this is relevant. Deja vus?” Miss Estras sat up straighter in her chair, clearly nervous._

_“I get them all the time, Miss Estradas,” Loveless glared at her. “So please answer the question as truthfully as possible. Do you, or do you not, have any sensation of deja vus?”_

_“I don’t. You are scaring me a bit here, Ambassador.”_

_“My talent is in intimidation, not affectation like Mx. Frisk, not that they’ll ever know how much we have to work to keep this fucking world functioning despite them leading an entire army of monsters into the surface. In any case, you do not? I see. We have no further uses for you then,” Ambassador Loveless pressed a button on his desk. “Bagman, get the fuck in here, right now.”_

_Miss Estradas sat dumbfounded for half a second. “Wha… what? What are you talking about, Mr. Loveless? What about Fris-“_

_Doors to the office slammed open, and the mother stared wide eyed at the security guards and a gasmasked, trenchcoat wearing being that strode into the office._

_“Who’s-“_

_The Bagman snaps a finger._

_………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………_

_An Internal Memo_

_Contingency N_

_Any biological relations to POI-1 must be neutralized prior to an encounter with POI-1. Disinformation and psychological campaigning is underway to convince the currently known biological relation to POI-1 from considering a meeting, but in case of failure of these methods, lethal option is authorized._

_Currently known biological relations to POI-1_

_Cassandra Estradas: (F), biological mother, lawyer working in…_

_…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………_

_Ambassador Loveless drafted a report of the incident to Dr. Roosevelt as the janitor vacuumed up a person-shaped pile of dust on the floor. The gasmasked figure stood stock-still as the Ambassador to Monsterkind typed away on his computer._

_“The hell are you doing, Jonathan?” Robert finally snapped towards the Bagman. “Your job’s done. Just get out of here. Jesus Christ, you worked here for how many years, and you still don’t know how to read the atmosphere?”_

_“My apologies, Ambassador, but you must be mistaken. Jonathan killed himself again this iteration. I’m his replacement. I will leave now, if I’m no longer wanted.”_

_Robert blinked. “Oh. Right. I’m sorry about that,” he said. “Don’t worry about it, you get how to do this sort of work in time… heh.” The new Bagman nodded once before leaving the room. The janitor, finished with vacuuming up vaporized human remains from the richly carpeted office floor, followed soon afterwards, whistling as she dragged a powerful vacuum cleaner behind her.._

_“Fuck,” Ambassador Loveless muttered as the door closed behind the janitor. “Fuck,” he muttered as he pulled up the picture he took with POI-1, with their olive brown skin and friendly smile. Robert had long since realized that any perceived friendliness from POI-1 was a fabrication. He knew that behind that childish demeanor and naiveté sat a nearly four centuries old intelligence with power to remake the world at their whim._

_And he hated to admit it, but they were losing against them. Despair and attrition got more of them every iteration._

_“Fuck this all to hell,” he muttered. To be fair, centuries old intelligence applied to people like him too now. He didn’t doubt that this ‘date’ to the Air and Space Museum was nothing more than some ploy to make him a personal friend of the ‘monsters,’ the same people who took away his son and so many other children. He just wishes that he can take a knife and carve out—_

_He stops himself._

_He knows that there is no point in revenge. Revenge was not profitable. Revenge against the monster was not the point of his work._

_Count to ten. Keep a wide smile, he tells himself. A reckoning will not forever be delayed. Stay determined, and there still may be hope for this world. All he has to do is act friendly._

_…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….._

‘Mr. Loveless!’ you sign with one hand while waving for his attention with the other. ‘I’m so glad that you are finally here!’

“How can I resist when a lovely person invites me to a date?”

Pfftt.

You don’t know which is funnier, the deadpan way that he said that, or how he had almost no expression as he did so, like he just gave up on the whole world and is just waiting for this horrible ordeal to end.

Hey, don’t be angry at me, Frisk. That’s what I said his expression was like, so it is, okay?

‘By the way, Mister Loveless, I admit I wasn’t truthful about something.’

“Oh?”

‘This isn’t actually a date. It’s an ambush. I invited my whole-‘

“NGAAAAAH” a scream pierces through the air as a figure leaps from the roof of a nearby building and lands in front of the human ambassador, who takes a step back from the heroic fishwoman, probably in surprise more than fear. Probably.

“Hi, I’m Undyne,” Undyne says, extending her hand with a huge grin towards the human ambassador. Robert blinks at the towering blue fishwoman, whose smile remains solid despite the human ambassador’s clear reluctance. And then, for a moment, I see it.

That’s not reluctance. That’s resentment.

The moment passes quickly, and the Ambassador takes Undyne’s hand. “The head of the Royal Guard herself,” he says, smiling friendlily at her. “An honor to meet you at last, although I would appreciate if you didn’t suplex me.”

“Frisk told you about that?” Undyne says.

“Oh they told me about a lot of things, ma’am,” Robert continues. The resentment in his face is gone now. Either I made a mistake, or he’s a surprisingly good actor. I guess it really doesn’t matter whether or not he actually dislikes monsters or Undyne or whatever—it’s not like he does any real work in the embassy other than mundane bureaucratic crap.

I know, I know, don’t be rude. But please do remember, sometime, that the ambassador is a human. You know how unpredictable humans can get from personal experience. You are, after all, one of the least predictable people around.

Undyne and Robert are now talking about her experience in the underground. You hurriedly signal to them that the rest of your friends are waiting in the Air and Space Museum—it just won’t do if Robert finds out about the inconsistencies between some of the more violent incidents in the Underground and the report we submitted. It will be fine. We can just LOAD if he finds out anything strange, and nobody except Flowey will be the wiser.

‘Sans is giving us a tour,’ you add to Undyne and Robert. “Sans? Is he still working like, a hundred jobs at once? I still can’t tell if he’s really dedicated or really lazy,” Undyne says.

“Sans is the shorter of the skeleton brothers, no?” Robert smirks at us. ‘What’s so funny?’ you inquire.

“Nothing, I was just hoping he would give us a stellar performance with the tour.”

_…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………._

_An Internal Memo_

_Observed World Iteration as of today is 3285. Subjectively, 384 years, 234 days, and approximately 18 hours in total have passed since Emergence Event Alpha._

_Please make an attempt at maintaining hope. All organizational members are to regroup and prepare for monsterkind’s immediate release in three days. Relevant persons in political and military spectrum in Contingency A3-12 and media personnel listed in Contingency B1-11 is to be immediately contacted and prepared to ensure peaceful and uneventful integration of monsterkind into human society. I have already arranged for additional barracks and support facilities be built for those recruited after Emergence Event Alpha._

_Always remember that armed conflict with POI-1 and the monsters have resulted, in every case, a premature and unplanned world reconstruction event. The board has determined that a policy of appeasement is currently our best option for prolonging this world’s existence while a proper countermeasure can be developed._

_If you no longer remember the contents of Contingency A3-12 and B1-11, ask anyone who still remembers how the world used to be._

_-Dr. Roosevelt._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: Back to comedic fluffy stuff.


End file.
